That changed, Stein said, when one student, one remarkable woman, signed up for piano lessons. "I felt it," he said, holding his hand over his heart.

That music student was Carmen Tarleton, the 44-year old Thetford, Vt. nurse who was left severely disfigured and legally blind in 2007 when her estranged husband savagely beat her and dumped industrial-strength lye all over her, eating away her skin. Herbert Rogers, 57, is currently serving a minimum 30-year prison sentence for the attack.

"He's just heaven-sent," Tarleton said of Stein. "He made my recovery so much easier than it would have been."

Tarleton showed the world her new look last week, two and a half months after doctors at Boston's Brigham & Women's Hospital transplanted the face and hair of Cheryl Denelli-Righter, a deceased tissue and organ donor, onto Tarleton in a rigorous and innovative procedure. "Every week it's getting a little better," Tarleton told NECN. "I like what I see!"

That improvement is due in large part, Tarleton said, to Stein. He met the chemical burn victim before she even knew her new face was coming. "[Sheldon] accepted me the way I was," Tarleton said.

Asked if there was a time when she doubted if she'd ever find a boyfriend, Tarleton answered, "Yeah. Oh yeah. It sort of happened unexpectedly. But in the back of my mind, I knew I was ready."

Tarleton recalled knowing almost instantly she found a special guy because of how patient Stein was: sharing long, supportive talks and visiting the hospital over and over. "And he has an integrity a lot of people don't have," she said.

"She's inspirational. She's strong," Stein said of Tarleton. "She has a lot of chutzpah!"

Tarleton will likely need more of that strength. Additional surgeries still have to be scheduled. But she said she has vowed to face them and any other obstacles that may come her way with the bravery and positive attitude she describes in her new book, "Overcome: Burned, Blinded, and Blessed." More on that title is available on this website.

"Life is a choice. You can choose to be miserable," Tarleton said. "Or you can choose to have a much better life."

That much better life now includes someone to share it with; someone for Carmen Tarleton to kiss with her new lips. She still is experiencing numbness in her face and lips, but is looking forward to continued progress. "That’s all going to come in time," she said.

Hillary Clinton's office said "nothing nefarious was at play" when the former secretary of state used her personal email address, rather than one provided by the State Department, during her four years as America's top diplomat.